Book-cover.



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. Patented Nov. 12,1918.

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MILES C. HOLDEN .AND FRANKLIN G. NEAL, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS;SAID NEAL ASSIGNOR TO ySAID llzlOIlhDEN.y

BooK-COVER.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Application led June 5, 1916. Serial No. 101,752.

To all whom z't may concern.'

Be it known that we, MILES C. HOLDEN and FRANKLIN G. NEAL, citizens ofthe United States of America, and residing at Springeld in the county ofHampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Book- Covers, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to book covers and particularly to improvements incovers of the t pe disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 79.161, grantedJanuary 3, 1905, to George W. Holden.

The patent referred to discloses a book cover which is particularlyadapted for books of varying dimensions and is so constructed that onesize of blank can be used for all the ordinary sizes of books within agiven range. While such covers have proved generally satisfactory inaccomplishing the purpose for which they were intended, it

has been found that, when the cover is used with books of certain sizes,it sometimes becomes torn after prolonged use due to the repeatedopening and closing of the book. lThe difficulty has been found to bedue in part to lack of sufficient flexibility in that portion of theblank, which covers the back of the book, so that the said portion oftenfails to bend 'smoothlywhen the book is opened. The-tendency is for thecover to crease along one or more lines and eventually to tear at thecreased portions. This difiiculty isaccentuated by the construction ofthe central upper tongue, which is of fixed width and is adapted to beturned in behind the back of the book to act as a reinforcement. lt willbe seen that, when books having backs narrower than the tongue arecovered, a portion of the inturned tongue projects behind one cover ofthe book which prevents free bending at the desiredl point and causeseventually a tearing of the cover at one or both ends ofthe tongue. Thisinvention is concerned particularly with the elimination of thedifficulties above set forth.

An obiectfof the invention is to provide in a book cover of thecharacter described, an upper tongue intermediate the two top iaps whichtongue is of a width sufficient to overlie the backs of the largestbooks encountered but has a series of scored or perforated linesparallel with one edge of the tongue along which the tongue may beconveniently severed to lit books having smaller backs.

Another object is toprovide a book cover of the class described havingits central portion scored with a series of parallel lines preferably onthe inside of the coverto form a flexible portion which will readilyconform to the back of the book and will bend smoothly along the properlines when the book is opened and closed.

ther objects and advantages will appear in the description to follow andin the annexed claims.

For the purpose of illustrating one manner in which the invention may bepractised, asingle preferred embodiment 'thereof is shown in theaccompanying drawing in which the ligure shows a plan view of theunfolded blank.

As shown in this drawing. the blank comprises a substantiallyrectangular body portion l, which is adapted to extend from the edge ofone cover of the'book, across the back thereof and to the edge of theother cover, whereby the book may be completely covered. rlhe end flaps2. upper and 'lower flaps 3 and 4, respectively, and the lower centraltongue 5 project from the body portion 1 in a manner substantially thesame as disclosed in the above identified patent. One end flap 2 isinturned as is'also the left hand lower Hap 4 which is pasted to flap 2in the usual manner. Flaps 3 and the right hand Hap 4 are provided withgummed portions 6. whereby they may be'secured to the end flaps 2 afterthe blank has been folded to fit the book. as will later appear.

An upper tongue 7 is formed between flaps 3 by cuts 8 and preferablyperforations or scorings 9 are provided as prolongations of the cuts 8,so that the length of `the tongue. which is adapted to be inturned. maybe varied to accommodate books of varying heights. The width of tongue7, that is the distance between cuts 8, is gaged to fit the back of thethickest book ordinarily encountered but in order that tongue the tonguesevered 7 may be varied in width to accommodate thinner books a seriesof spaced scored or perforated lines l0 are` made in the tongue parallelto one edge thereof. Thus, by tearing along the left hand line 10, thetongue obtained will be of suitable Vwidth for the thinnest bookcustomarily found and by tearing along other lines l0 books ofintermediate sizes may be fitted. The entire central portion of theblank, including both tongues 5 and 7, is also scored verticallypreferably on its inner surface along aseries of closely spaced parallellines 11, which scorings cover substantially the entire width of tongue7. The score marks 11 may be formed in any suitable manner as by par-`tially cutting the blank or by ruled indentations for example. They are,however, preferably formed on the inner surface of the blank, not onlyfor the sake of providing a neat smooth exterior surface, but alsobecause the scorings thus formed permit flexibility in the` desireddirection, that is, when the book is opened.

The manner of covering a book with the blank cover disclosed will now bedescribed assuming that the open book is represented by the rectangle 12and that the thickness of the closed book is represented by thedimension 13. One cover of the open book is slipped in and` nested underthe already inturned flaps 2 and 4 and the other flap 2 is folded alongthe edge of the other cover. The book is next closed to determine itsthickness and the perforated line 10 best accommodated to ft the back ofthe book is selected, as, for example, the left hand line 10 in thefigure. The book is then opened, along the selected line'lO, and theentire tongue 7 is inturned along the top edge of the book. Tongue 5 issimilarly lnturned along the bottom edge of the book. Should the heightof the book be less than that indicated by rectangle 12, the cuts 8 andleft hand line 10 may be prolonged along the extensions 9. The upperflaps 3 and lower Hap 4 are next inturned and lgummed to the end flap 2which completes the covering operation.'

In using the book cover, as heretofore formed, the portion of the blankoverlying the back ofthe book had no more flexibility than any otherportion. Moreover, with a book of the thickness indicated by dimension13, a portionof tongue 7 (that between left hand line l0 and right handline 8) extended beyond the back of the book. Ob-

vious'ly, when the book so covered is opened,

' the cover bends along substantially vertical lines from the base ofcuts 8 for the latter form weak points and establish a natural line ofbending. Now, when the central portion of the blank is not rbleit Idoesnot bend readily in a smooth curve, when the book is opened, but on theThus, the weak points -which is defined by t particularly flexpiece oftangular the cover of the book is opened but the blank, bending onlyslightly at the base of right hand cut 8, tends to push the left handcover, which, however, is firmly held to the book. Thus, the tendenc isfor the pushing action described to tear t e blank at the base of lefthand cut 8. Bymaking the central portion of the blank liexible, as byscoring, the tearing tendency is reduced since the tongue andportionstherebelow will bend into a smooth curve. To completely preventall possibility of tearing as described the tongue 7 is cut to fit theback of the book by tearing along perforations 10. purposely employed tolocate the lines of bending are arranged to lie coincident with theedges of the closed book.

Thus, book cover which is characterized by provision for extended lifeunder prolonged service. It is recognized that modifications may be madein the structure herein described for illustrative purposes withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention e appended claims rather thanby the foregoing description of one preferred form.

What we claim is.- 1. A book cover composed of a single piece of paperhaving a substantially rectangular body portion and integral flaps onthe edges of said body, the upper of said flaps being out along twoconverging linesto form a substantially central tongue, the latter beingweakened along la plurality of spaced lines so that the tongue 'may bereadily severed along any of said lines by tearing, whereby the widthof. said tongue may be readily thickness ofthe book to be covered.

2. A book cover .composed of a single piece of lpaper having asubstantially rectangular ody portion and integral flaps on the edges ofsaid body portion, the vupper of said flaps being cut by two converginglines to form a substantially central tongue, the latter and the portionof the blank therebelow being scored along a series of spaced parallellines extending vertically from the top of the tongue to the bottomofthe lower flap, whereby the portion of the lblank overlying the backof the book may be bent smoothly as the book is opened and closed.

3. A book 'cover composed of a single paper having a substantiallyrecody portion and integral flaps on we have provided an improved ivaried to conform to the g the edges of said body portion, the upper ofthe portion of the blank therebelow being said aps being cut along twoconverging scored on its inner surface along a series of lines to form asubstantially central tongue, spaced parallel lines which extend fromthe 10 the latter being weakened between said cuts top of the tongue tothe bottom of the lower along a plurality of spaced parallel lines,flap.

whereby the width of tongue may be con- MILES C. HOLDEN. Venientlyvaried as desired, said tongue and FRANKLIN G. NEAL.

